Oh yes.....sitting here watching TGC.....surprised by some of the commentary.  While they've said Tiger still isn't able to put two rounds together, his ball striking was right on.....AND you can't count him out tomorrow.  It's a numbers game at this point.....can Tiger charge.....can those ahead hold on.....

Golf is surely a funny game!!  Rory has given up the lead before (Dubai).....and KJ is such a solid player!  Cabrarra has been known to "stare down" his opponents too!!  Then there's Donald, Day, and several others who could quite easily light up the course!! 

As the saying goes...."It ain't over til it's over!"  Gonna be an exciting day!!

Great post OP, some of us are living in a Tiger Woods time warp, it's not 2000 anymore, and apparently a lot of people are having a very difficult time accepting the fact that the rest of the tour has caught up to him and that the man has regressed a great deal due to age and personal life.

I suspect a lot of posters here would medically get diagnosed with this following condition:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delusional_disorder

Help me out here Realist.....how many PGA tour wins does McIlroy have?  1 I think.  How many Eurpoean tour wins does he have?  How many total wins does he have since turning pro?  How many times has Rory gone into the weekend #1 or #2 and crumbled on Saturday not to mention Sunday.  As I recall....he has many REALISTIC bumbles going into Saturday and played himself out of contention.....badly.  Realistically....he is a good player that has done well in the Ryder Cup but has not been all that effective in the PGA.  Where is Kaymer #1, where is Westwood, where is Gmac.....the gigler who has not made the cut when playing with Tiger since The Chevron, twice.  Geez....be realistic, it has been less than 12 months since Tiger changed his swing where it has taken him on average 18 mos. to win each time he has changed it.  Other players that should be there: Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson.....Bubba Watson he's there and so is 51 year old Freddie Couples. 

How many "One Time" Masters winners do we have?

So "The_Realist", or anyone that can give me Rory's stats I would sincerely appreciate it.  vt, Pistol or Kat, I am sure you will be able to help me out and put this in perspective.  And the important fact for me is "W"s and playing himself out of contention after doing well on Thurs./Fri. 

IMHO.....Tiger will make a run and possibly win but if not Angel Cabrera will take Rory down or should I say Rory will hand it to Cabrera!  I am honestly curious about this.....we will have a more "realistic" view of our current leader and overall picture of what TIGER has done and will continue to do.

I don't see how Rory's past record is relevant, you're talking about a 21 year old kid here.

We're discussing Tiger here and my point was that though he's still one of the better golfers out there, the disparity between him and the rest of the field is marginal at best. You can't take into account his dominating years and let that influence your expectation/prediction of the current Tiger, that Tiger was THEE longest (beside Daily) driver on the tour, that Tiger had an impeccably precise iron game, that Tiger was a magician around the green, that Tiger would've thrown up on the green in disgust if he repeatedly missed as many short putts as he does now. That was a completely different era and a different person to the one we know now, that Tiger truly was invincible.

But some of us are still wearing those rose color glasses in thinking that he can magically turn it on and off and you "can't never count him out". Well I got news for you, you haven't been watching him the last 2 years, you can in fact count this version of Tiger Woods out. He has shown you absolutely nothing to have any confidence in him, the faith most people seem to have in him is totally unsubstantiated irrational belief. There have been no empirical evidence whatsoever that this version of Tiger has provided that could possibly make a sane person rationally believe that Tiger will pull this out tomorrow.

People can do the numbers by comparing to age and progress, that's why I asked the question about all stats and included the number of months he has had an actively engaged new coach and on average how long it took Tiger to win again when he has changed his swing before.  Do you play golf?  I do and only wish I was 35 again......my point, everyone wants to "count him out".  You say the young players are catching up due to his personal issues and age, thinking that he can dominate again is not wearing "Rose colored glasses"!  It is a matter of who has the ability to be that person and Tiger himself has as much chance as any of the others.  In fact, my bet would be on Tiger.....please hear this next sentence loud and clear: He has rebuilt his swing for longevity and as he stated in his presser, had to find a new coach (Haney DID bail on him) and when that rebuild is complete at 35 or 36 he will have a better run than most.  So, if you are worried about apples and oranges, before you write Tiger off, by all means compare Rory from the time he entered the PGA until now to the time Tiger entered the PGA until Rory's current age.  And could you answer why Gmac missed the cut after the Chevron while playing twice with Tiger or why Kaymer has missed every cut at the Masters.  They all have their quirks, came onto the world stage as unknowns and will leave as one timers.  Anything other than that is wearing Rose colored glasses.  Do you want me to say Tiger is done......he's not......will he be as dominate, maybe.  But a man that has dominated for 10 years and brings his C game to the Masters and still has the chance......I don't think he can be called just a "good golfer" yet!

You only want to compare the numbers since 2009 for Tiger how does that make your empirical evidence quantify when the next best thing, whether it be Gmac, Kaymer, McIlroy make sense.  So let's start from 2009 purely by the numbers and then compare Tiger and Rory purely by the numbers by the same amount of months from the beginning of their entry into the PGA.  Is that more fair for you? 

No one here wears Rose Colored Glasses, TW has had many issues to deal with and many, many others still believe he will make that comeback.  That's it!  Faith!  Sincerely, God forbid anyone of these talented young men ever go through hardship or injury but apples to apples no one so far has been this dominant except Jack and it is too soon to say that Tiger is "just a good golfer"! 

And I've got news for you, I have watched him since 97 and seen him change swings only to come back and dominate.....please don't assume "I" am wearing rose colored glasses or tell me I am being irrational.  Now that's real!

Paddy , TIGER DON'T GIVES TWO HOOTS ABOUT WHAT THIS MORRON THINK!!!, He'll just go about his business and working on perfecting his games!!

GO TIGER, winning takes care of everythings!!!!!!!

THANKS PADDY,

VERY WELL PUT INTO WORDS.  I AM SO EXCITED OVER HOW HIS SWING HAS PROGRESSED.  NO ONE ELSE IS IN HIS CLASS UNTIL THEY PROVE DIFFERENT.  HE HAS GIVEN TO THE WORLD WHAT NO OTHER HAS DONE OR WILL PROBABLY EVER DO.  NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS TODAY I AM SO PROUD OF HIM..ON THURS.  I GOT UP AT 4 IN THE MORNING SO WE COULD MAKE THE 6 HR DRIVE TO MY DAUGHTERS AND GET HERE IN TIME FOR TV COVERAGE.  I WILL BE WATCHING MY GRANDSON ROPE TODAY WITH MY COMPUTER IN MY HAND AND WHEN HE FINISHES I WILL COME BACK  AND WATCH TV.  MY GRANDSON HAS SECURED A PLACE AT STATE FINALS SO I DON'T HAVE TO BE NERVOUS FOR HIM.  WE CAME TO WATCH THE LAST ONE BEFORE STATE AND MY HUSBAND COULD GIVE HIM SOME POINTERS.  MAINLY DON'T BE TOO HARD ON YOURSELF.  NOW FANS DON'T BE TOO HARD ON TIGER.  HE IS BACK AND WILL PROVE IT BEFORE THE YR. IS OUT. I AM PROUD, PROUD, PROUD!

NANA  BIG TIME FAN

Best of luck to Wesley, Joy!   I'm rooting for him right along with Tiger.